


Games and Snacks

by Ayami (Syrica)



Series: Setleth Week 2019 [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Three Houses
Genre: Domesticy Fluff, F/M, Family Game Night, Fluff, i assume Fódlan has running water figured out already
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21998881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrica/pseuds/Ayami
Summary: Byleth and Flayn both have certain gaps in their general knowledge, and the lettuce family plays a game to rectify this
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Seteth
Series: Setleth Week 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577923
Comments: 14
Kudos: 67





	Games and Snacks

**Author's Note:**

> Setleth Week Day 5: History

It is game night. Every weekend the greenest family in Garreg Mach gather in the living room at sunset to play a game of trivia- specifically one that focuses on the knowledge that occupies the gaps of both Flayn and Byleth’s understanding of Fódlan. 

Flayn had missed much during her long slumber and being sheltered all of her life didn’t do much to alleviate that fact. She understood church history- having experienced some of it first hand- but her knowledge of the world outside was sparse.

On the opposite end, Byleth has had much experience in the world outside, but having been specifically raised away from the knowledge of the church and away from what most people would call “polite society”, the gaps in her knowledge stood in stark contrast to Flayn’s.

It was originally Flayn’s idea to turn her and the professor’s studies into a game of sorts- and Seteth was not about to turn down an opportunity to spend time with the cherished women in his life. He’d spent much of his time working at the monastery learning how the world had changed and was the perfect person to quiz them on what they had learned.

“Alright girls, it is all cleaned here! Are you quite finished yourselves?” Seteth called back behind him. He’d just finished clearing out the table in the middle of room of its scattered paperwork, arranging them neatly in the corner so as to not get in the way. Three chairs were arranged neatly around said table: two on one side facing the third. A small fire warmed the room and dried the small chalk board which had just been thoroughly wiped clean.

“Not quite!” He heard Flayn’s voice echo from behind him.   
“It’s not as easy as it sounds!” Rang Byleth’s mildly frustrated voice, not far behind.

Seteth turned around to face them and was greeted by the backs of two green heads bent over the kitchen sink.

“If you try one more time, I am certain you will find success!” Flayn rubbed her hands together confidently, “you need only to focus more. Think of it like you are petting one of the monastery cats, you want to be gentle but firm!”

Byleth looked over from the tome on the counter that she was studying- one which described a fire spell that specialized in highly controlled, constant heat- and shook her head. “This is the fourth time, Flayn. Perhaps you could just do it since you know h-”

“No!” Flayn interrupted, “I am not letting you off of the hook, professor! You are skilled with magic, I have seen you in class. I am confident that you can do something as simple as _heating corn_.”

Byleth sighed, “ _Combat magic_ I can handle. _This_ on the other hand…”

Slowly rising from where he was seated, Seteth moved just a few steps closer to the other two, and cleared his throat to make himself known. It wasn’t that he was getting _impatient_ , no, no, not _him_. However it was getting late. “I apologize girls, but is this truly _necessary_ at this moment?”

Flayn responded immediately, “Of course! The professor has taught me much- now it is my turn! As of right now, _I_ am the professor.” She finished by tucking her arms behind her straightened back to give herself a more dignified look.

Byleth couldn’t help but laugh a little, she really did look precious that way. She reached out and ruffled the top of Flayn’s head, much to the girl’s dismay. “I think your brother is getting impatient.”

“I am _not_.” He quickly retorted, “However, the sun has already set. I hope you two are not using this as an excuse to weasel out game night.”

“Never!” Flayn sounded mildly offended while she fixed her hair from Byleth’s messing. “You forget, game night was _my_ idea in the _first place!_ Although, if you would like to come here and assist, then I think the professor will become a little more _motivated_.” She gave what was supposed to be a knowing wink to Byleth, who promptly returned it with a look that was equally confused as it was guilty.

“Maybe there’s… _some_ truth to that.” Byleth admitted, glancing at the man who was now defensively crossing his arms. She’d never say _no_ to being close to her love. But besides simply enjoying his presence, she could _swear_ she was stronger whenever he was near her. Perhaps it _would_ help her magic to have him here.

Seteth shook his head- _what am I going to do them_ \- but approached nonetheless. As he neared where the two were standing, however, his nose was assaulted by the overpowering smell of burning. “Wh- what is all of this?”

Looking down at the bucket placed in the center of the sink, he saw a pile of ash and the ashen kernels of what used to be corn, piled halfway to the rim. The bucket itself was scuffed and some parts of it dimly glowed with cinder. “How much corn did you two _scorch?_ ”

Flayn grabbed the sack set next to her from off of the floor and held it up, lifting it up and down a few times to inspect its weight. “Most of it, I believe.” She stated plainly.

Byleth buried her face in her hands at the same time that Seteth brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose and sighed. After thinking for a moment, he conceded, “Very well. Why don’t you try once more? _Only once._ ”

“Do you hear that, professor?” Flayn clasped her hands excitedly. “Now you _must_ do it!”

Byleth turned her head to squint at Seteth, who returned the look in jest. She exhaled an exaggeratedly loud sigh, then lifted the bucket out of the sink and moved to dump its charred contents into the garbage. “If we end up only playing for a few minutes, it’s _your_ fault.” 

“That should not be a problem, so long as we actually start.” He answered back, watching her rinse then refill the bucket with unmarred corn.

When she returned to the sink, Seteth moved to brush her hair off of her shoulder so as to rest his chin there, then placed one hand firmly on her hip. With the other hand he bade Flayn to come over and watch over the professor as she began to cast a the fire spell as Flayn had shown her. 

“You know that’s _distracting_ , Seteth.” Byleth mumbled, holding up her hand to the pile and igniting a small fire in her palm.

“You were the one who requested I provide moral support, dear.” He said over her should as-matter-of-factly.

“Technically it was Flayn’s idea…” 

“It _was_ and it is _working_.” Flayn proudly said pointing at the spell. “At this point last time you had mostly only succeeded in heating the metal.”

Byleth heard a low laugh next to her ear and nearly turned around to glare at him before Flayn quickly scolded her.

“Pay _attention_ professor! You are very nearly there!” Flayn grabbed Byleth’s free arm in her excitement and Byleth soon found herself completely restrained by this family.

After a few more seconds of quiet concentration a _pop_ rung out across the room that was then followed by another, and then several more.

“It is doing it!” Flayn gasped, tightening her grip on Byleth’s arm, prompting a pained groan from the professor. “It is popping!”

“You are _deceptively_ strong, Flayn.” Byleth complained outwardly, trying to conceal her own satisfaction at finally getting a simple spell right. She kept her hand steady over her target as its contents expanded, trading one-by-one compact kernels for fluffy pieces, until the bucket was nearly overflowing.

“We have popcorn!” Flayn cheered, releasing Byleth’s arm to reach out towards the bucket before remembering it was likely hot and pulling her hand away. She quickly cast a cooling spell around her own hands and tested the handle of the bucket. Satisfied that she could handle it without injuring herself, Flayn fully lifted the bucket out of the sink. “This should be enough for three people, I think.”

“Well done, professor.” Seteth said next to Byleth’s ear before turning his head and quickly kissing her cheek. “Now may we _please_ begin?”

“Yes. Finally.” Byleth answered, turning around and hand-in-hand making their way to where the chairs and board had been set up. 

Flayn going on ahead, placed the bucket onto the table and took her seat, and patted the chair next to her to signal the two to hurry up. “Come on you two! We no longer have much time!”

“That is what _I_ was saying before.” Seteth grumbled out loud.

When everyone had settled down into their respective seats, Seteth pulled out his leather bound notebook “Now then…” he began, flipping to its most recent page. “The greater topic for today is… Church history.”

He stood back up and turned towards the chalkboard behind him and repeated what he said as he spelled it out on the board:  
C H U R C H H I S T O R Y

“More specifically, the Four Saints.”

“ _Hey!_ ”

“ _Yes!_ ” 

Satisfied in her home-field advantage, Flayn sat up in her chair more confidently, and leaned over to grab a fistful of popcorn out of the bucket.

“If you make a mess you will be the one to clean it up.” Seteth chided without turning around, still in the middle of writing “The Four Saints” on the board.

“Shouldn’t this topic be off-limits considering…?” Byleth gestured around the room, trying to be heard over the sound of Flayn giggling. “ _You know?_ ”

“I assure you, I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to.” Seteth said with mock-innocence while he wrote both Flayn and Byleth’s names on the board for score tallying. Once he was done, he returned to his own chair and folded his arms, maintaining eye contact with Byleth as if challenging her to say anything more.

She narrowed her eyes, but said nothing more, electing to instead take some popcorn for herself, crunching it defiantly.

“Very well, if there are no more objections we shall begin with the first question.” He dragged his finger down the open page and stopped when he thought he’d found a suitable question. 

“Ah, here is an easy one to begin: Amongst the four saints, who played the role of tactician?”  
He put his notebook face down on his lap and looked at the two women in front of him, awaiting an answer.

“I believe that would be Macuil, right?” Byleth answered before Flayn could speak through the popcorn in her mouth.

“That is not fair, I was eating!” Flayn protested.

“ _That’s_ what’s not fair about this?” Byleth huffed in Flayn’s direction, earning her a sheepish smile from the girl.

“That is one point for Byleth.” Seteth announced, drawing a tick mark beneath her name on the chalkboard. “You’re going to have to pay more attention if you want to win, Flayn.”

Flayn sat up straight and folded her hands neatly in her lap, determined to get the next one. “I will!”

Seteth nodded and looked down at his notebook, “We will see… Second question: which high-level white magic technique did Saint Cethleann invent and utilize to great extent in her earlier years?”

Flayn’s hand shot up and she patted the table in front of her excitedly, “Ooh! Fortify!”

“That is correct.” Seteth nodded, not bothering to hide the prideful smile on his face as he went to draw a tick mark beneath Flayn’s name.

Byleth looked over to the girl who was currently getting excited over trivia games and had eaten half a bucket of popcorn by herself within the last few minutes and wondered how she had invented an elite caliber spell.

“Best pay attention, Byleth.” Seteth said, bringing her back to the present, “the game is tied up, you would do well to listen carefully.”

Byleth nodded, though a bit skeptical of the tone of voice he was using. Something told her a question about himself was coming up next.

Seteth looked over his open notebook once again and read from it directly, “Who is the most handsome of the four saints?” he said, impressively straight-faced.

“ _Cethleann._ ” the two girls answered simultaneously, maintaining similar levels of deadpan. 

“Not even any hesita- that is it.” Seteth clapped his notebook shut, “I believe it is time for bed.” 

**Author's Note:**

> For posterity’s sake, I should note that I *did* make the Fortify thing up.
> 
> But it’s canon in my heart


End file.
